Crucified Heart
by Fates Twisted Child
Summary: A young saint looks back on her life as she is mercilessly killed by the brother she once looked up to. Nothing matters anymore, everything she believed, everything she knew, was a lie. What point is there in going on?
1. Prologue

Dice:Sere…Sere….SERE!!!

Sere:Hm? *Looks up from her sketchbook at Dice* What?

Dice:Dimwit! You've gotta introduce Crucified Heart!!

Sere:Oh, right! *jumps to her feet and bows politely* Konbon wa minna-san, I'm Fates Twisted Child, though friends just call me Sere

Dice:*mutters* or stupid

Chibi:Mommy!! Dice just called you stupid!

Dice:Brat!

Sere:*picks up a large book and hits Dice in the back of the head with it* Thank you, Chibi-chan

Chibi:Hehe!! *Runs off to find Birdy and Ivory*

Sere:Yes, well, I should probably explain *prods Dice in the back* The blue haired baka is my older sister, yami, and the spirit trapped in my dad's old family ring, and the crazy little brat that told on Dice is my pet chibi, Chibi

Shun:She seems to think that Sere-chan is her mother

Dice:I just know I'm gonna be explaining this to a psychiatrist in a few years

Sere:Dice, shut up, you're dead!

Ikki:Can we please get on with the story?

Sere:Yeah, yeah, fine, CHIBI!!!

Chibi:*runs up holding a flamethrower* yeah?

Sere:Disclaimer, please

Chibi:*fires up the flamethrower and begins writing on the wall with it*

Sere:I just finished repairing the last one!!!

Chibi:*finishes and runs off*

**Okaa-san does not own Saint Seiya or any other show/book/movie that might be mentioned** is now burning on the wall

Sere:…Lovely

Quote of the Chapter

_"_Oh, man, Quatre loves to blame himself for everything if you let him. Sooner or later, he'll start saying that there's no air in space because he didn't work on it hard enough."—Duo Maxwell, Gundam Wing (kinda makes me think of Ikki or Elektra talking about Shun)__

_They say, when you die, that your life flashes before your eyes. It does, from the point where you believe it began. For me, it began the same way it ended, at the hands of another saint. It wasn't a dark, stormy night when I died, it wasn't even night. It was the middle of the day, the most perfect day I'd ever seen. If I'd known that I would spend the last day of my life fighting the person that I'd looked up to as long as I could remember, I would have killed myself years ago. _

Ikki dove out of the way as bits of glass showered down on him. He looked up to see Elektra backflip and land on her feet behind him. The Lyra Saint slid back several meters before finally collapsing onto her knees. Another dark form swooped over Ikki and the saint of shadows, Kage, landed in front of Elektra. He picked Elektra up by the neck and brought her to eye level.

"Ready to give up yet?" Kage sneered.

Elektra's starburst eyes glowed and harp strings shot from her flesh and wrapped around Kage's neck and arms. She grinned even though there was blood all over her face and the Lyra cloth was cracked, almost ready to fall apart.

"Never!"

The harp strings cut into Kage's arms and neck. He snarled and got a tight grip on the portion of the strings wrapped around his wrist.

"Fine then," Kage's demented grin sent a shudder through Ikki. "you can just die!" He yanked on the harp strings and they ripped free from Elektra's copper skin.

Elektra's pain screams shook Ikki more than even the look in Kage's eyes.

_'How could any brother do that to his own flesh and blood?' _Ikki thought angrily.

Elektra's screams died and the rest of the harp strings fell limp. She turned just enough for her eyes to meet Ikki's. Tears filled her wild starburst eyes that struck Ikki like a meteor. After all this, after everything Kage had done, she still loved him. All other emotions, the pain, the fear, the hatred, that filled them just minutes before were gone, replaced by the sadness, the love of her older brother, the same love Shun held for Ikki. Ikki's blood boiled with rage. Kage laughed wickedly and threw Elektra's lifeless body into the air and pointed a fist at her.

"Shadow Darts!!"

What was left of Elektra's emerald and obsidian armor shattered as hundreds of black darts struck her with inhuman aim. Her unconscious body slammed into the wall of the Shadow Tower and slid down the wall, leaving a trail of crimson blood. Ikki struggled against the chains binding him to the ground to no avail.

Kage walked up to Elektra's lifeless body and lightly kicked her. "Pathetic creature."

_'How dare he,' _Ikki thought, his eyes beginning to glow. _'how dare he treat his own sister like some stupid animal!'_  Ikki looked up, eyes glowing and shouted. **"KAGE!!!**"

The Shadow Saint stopped to glare at him. "Aren't you dead yet?"

Ikki's eyes fell on the scarred, eyeless face of his friend's older brother. Part of him wondered what had driven Kage to gouge out his own eyes, though the other remained focused on the Elektra.

"Look at what you're doing, Shadow!" Ikki shouted. "Do you really want the blood of one of your own on your hands!"

Kage stared at him, then glared at Elektra. "Explain yourself, Phoenix!"

"Look beyond the armor, Kage, look at the person wearing it!" Ikki snarled.

Kage snapped his fingers and the chains binding Ikki slid off. The Phoenix Saint stood up and stridded over to Elektra's lifeless body. He knelt down next to her and gently slid off what was left of Elektra's shattered helmet. Her long bleached hair fell into Ikki's lap, now streaked and stained with her dark blood.

"You may be able to see through the darkness of the world," Ikki said, turning to Kage with rage in his eyes. "but you cannot see through the darkness of your own heart. Look, do you now recognize her? Do you recognize the face of your sister?"

Kage knelt down and ran a hand over Elektra's copper, blood covered face. His hand ran down her arm and stopped on the harp tattoo on her wrist. He began shaking, then suddenly brought his hands, one of which was still clutching the harp strings he'd ripped from Elektra's body, to his face and shook his head. "What... what have I done?"

Ikki glared at him and felt Elektra's wrist. "You've killed your own sister, Kage, you murdered the very reason you became a saint."

Kage sobbed into his hands. "No! Please, no! She can't... she can't be..." he trailed off and shook his head.

Ikki closed his eyes and pulled Elektra's lifeless body close to him, hugging her tightly. He kissed her forehead and whispered, "Please, if there is any good power left here, protect Elektra, bring her back to us. We need her, I need her."

_We stood at the cross roads, each of us with our own saint cloth on our back. After so many years of fighting and training, we stood, ready to part ways for the first time in our lives._

_"Well, here we are. We've done it."_

_"I can't believe, after all that, it worked."_

_"After all the early mornings and endless days, it's finally paid off. We did it, we're saints."_

_"SIS!!!!!!!"_

_I looked up from my book as my brother ran up, waving his arms madly. "What'd you do this time, wake up a nest of hornets?" I asked tiredly._

_He shook his head. "No, it's something really good!" He climbed into the window I was sitting in and hugged me._

_"What? Our dear father finally die?" I asked, closing The Silmarilion and looking into his starburst red eyes. I hated those eyes; it was like looking in a mirror that only reflected darkness._

_"No, silly! It's way better than that!"_

_"Then tell me, I'm trying to read." I said simply, which was a complete lie. I'd read this particular book so many times I had it memorized, but I didn't want my brother to know that I'd finally run out of things to read._

_"What? More reading? What's it this time, The Hobbit?" he asked, looking at my book. He couldn't read, so why did he bother?_

_"I finished that while you were out training yesterday, this is The Silmarilion." I said, giggling at the confused look that crossed his face. I wish it were that easy now._

_He shook his head. "Whatever, I'm not into that reading and learning crap."_

_"And that's why you've got no chance at a future, dear brother."_

_"Maybe, but it's because I spend all my time training!" he snapped._

_I sighed. "And yet I can still kick your sorry butt."_

_"Cannot!"_

**_WACK!_**_ A simple half-powered kick sent him flying across the room like a bird._

_"You were saying?"_

_He got up, rubbing his head and cursing under his breath. "Yeah, well, you won't ever get to be a saint because you're a girl!"_

_"Yeah, and you will?" I sniped, turning to look at him. "You're scared of bugs!"_

_"Yeah, I will! Dad just told me! I get to be a saint!! I'm gonna get the fox cloth!"_

_I blinked and set my book down. My heart seemed to fall through the floor. "You...you can't be serious! You, a saint?!"_

_"Yeah! And the best part is, I can stay right here while I'm training! I won't have to leave!"_

_I smiled sadly and looked back out the window. I didn't want him to see me cry. I was supposed to be strong. "Congrats, bro."_

_I could feel him looking at me, seeing through me like he always did. "Sis, I know you wanted to be a saint, but..."_

_"but girls aren't meant to be saints, I know." I whispered. "I've only heard it a million times from dad."_

_He pulled himself into the windowsill and wrapped his arms around me. "I'm sorry..." His head shot up. "Wait a minute! I've got it?"_

_"Not another scheme," I muttered. He may have been born under the fox constellation, but he wasn't very clever. He always got us into trouble with his half-baked schemes._

_"There's another set of armor, I saw it!" he jumped down and began pacing around the room. "You could steal it!"_

_"I'm not going to steal it! If I were to become a saint I want to earn it!" This aspect made me furious. I may have been raised on an island completely inhabited by men, but I was not about to sink to stealing like my father had._

_"Ok, ok, let me think," he paced for several minutes, then finally looked up. "I could teach you! I'll be staying here, so I could just pass everything I learned onto you, that way we could become saints together! It's perfect! After I get my armor, you can steal yours and leave!"_

_"There's that word again," I grumbled, still staring out at the setting sun._

_"But you'll have earned it by then! Come on, it's perfect!"_

_I smiled and turned to him, his eyes shined with a light that I'd never seen, the cunning of the fox. "Ok, when do we start?"_

_"At dawn tomorrow morning."_

_Part of me wanted to laugh, but instead I shouted, "YOU KNOW I CAN'T GET UP THAT EARLY!!"_

_"I can wake you up!"_

_"Remember what happened last time you tried that?" I grabbed a handful of his pink hair, which was charred and starting to fall off. He'd tried to wake me up one morning, and in rage I'd torched his hair with a technique our older brother had taught me._

_"Ok, that...could be a problem. Oh well, we'll figure something out." He was still grinning from ear to ear, and the gleam in his eyes didn't fade._

_"I hope."_

_That was almost eleven years ago, my brother risked everything just so I could become a saint. Now, there we stood, in the middle of the night, each of us carrying our saint cloth. There was fork in the road there. One road lead home, where my brother had to go, the other road lead to the docks, and the boat that would take me far from there. We'd broken all the rules, but I couldn't feel more satisfied at the time._

_I turned and began walking down the left road._

_"Wait!" I stopped and turned back to my brother. "We'll see each other again, right?" he asked me._

_I smiled. "Of course. We're bound by blood. One day, we'll be together again, I promise."_

_He pulled me into a tight hug then quickly released me. "I'll miss you."_

_"And I, you, little brother."_

_"Promise me something."_

_"What?"_

_"Promise me that you won't go it alone."_

_My eyebrow arched. "Are you absolutely insane? It's gonna be hard enough to hide the fact that I'm a girl without getting close to anyone!"_

_"You won't have to," the light of the fox shined in his eyes again. "away from here, you can be yourself, you won't have to worry about our father's wrath. You're a saint now, you're free."_

_I smiled sadly and a single tear slid down my cheek. "The sun is rising, little brother, and it is time for us to go."_

_"Sing, please," he whispered. "one last time."_

_I looked at him, my own red eyes shining with tears and nodded._

_"The road goes ever ever on_

_To the lands beyond the sea_

_On a white ship will I sail_

_Watching shadows part for me_

_Leaving havens gray with rain_

_Now that years have slipped away_

_Leaving friends with gentle pain_

_As they start another day_

_Roads I travelled I must leave"_

_I turned and began walking down the road._

_"For I've turned the final bend_

_Weep not empty tears, but grieve_

_As the road comes to an end_

_It's so easy not to try_

_Let the world go drifting by_

_If you never say hello"_

_I stopped and wiped a tear off my cheek, then turned back. He still stood there, ruby eyes filled with tears._

_"You won't have to say goodbye"_

_And with that I turned and walked away. At the time I didn't know exactly what was in store for us, but I knew it couldn't be all good. We'd broken the laws of the gods, and there would be hell to pay, but for now, that didn't matter. We had to concentrate on our dreams. If only I'd known what would follow, I never would have walked down that road._


	2. Discovery

Sere:I'm back!!!!

Ikki:Gods have mercy….

Dice:*happily helping Elektra and Shun dye Saori's clothes strange and grotesque colors* It won't be that bad, Ikki-kun, just don't tick nee-san off

Sere:You talk like you've seen me mad before, Dice

Dice:I haven't, but I know perfectly well what an authoress is capable of from watching Meg and Alex fighting

Shun:*twitch twitch* Please don't mention Alex

Sere:*rolls her eyes* It's a long story, let's just say my aunt, Megpie the Great, is a torture specialist, and her older sister, Alex, specializes is angst and death, so it's not pretty when they team up. I asked Alex to write a big death scene later on in Crucified Heart, and Shun's already had to live through it…

Dice:Say anymore and you'll give away the surprise, Sere

Sere:OF course, Shun-chan, will you please do the disclaimer for me?

Shun:Of course, **Fates Twisted Child does not own any show/book/movie mentioned in Crucified Heart. Elektra, her brothers, and the Neo Gods belong to Sere, Dice, Meg, and Alex.**

Sere:*blinku* Shun-chan, you do realize the Neo Gods don't come in for a long time, right?

Shun:Of course, but I know you are going to forget when they do

Sere:-_-;; and you're supposed to be the nice one…

Shun: ^_^

_"You can die at any time, but it takes a lot of courage to live."--Kenshin, Ruroni Kenshin_ A very good quote for any of the Bronze boys, especially Shun and Ikki****

**BANG!**

Ikki and Shun ducked as a very loudly swearing Hyoga went sailing over their heads. The brothers looked at each other, sighed, and went back to their chess game.

**CRASH!**

They lifted the chessboard as Seiya went sliding across the table on his back. They set the board down and Shun moved one of his pawns forward.

**BOOM!**

Shiryu crashed down through the ceiling right after Ikki slid the table out of the way. The dragon saint scrambled to his feet and ran after Seiya and Hyoga.

"How do you put up with this?"Ikki asked tiredly as he pulled the table back in front of him and took Shun's pawn with his queen.

"You get used to it after a while." He took Ikki's queen with his knight.

**CRACK!**

Shun's eye twitched as Kiki went flying into the table and sent the chess pieces all over the huge room. Kiki giggled, jumped up, and flew off in the direction that Seiya, Shiryu, and Hyoga had gone.

"Let's go for a walk,"Ikki suggested through gritted teeth.

"Good idea,"Shun said with remarkable calm.

The brothers got up, walked across the room, making sure to step over Seiya and Hyoga, who were wrestling on the floor, and Shiryu and Kiki, who were rolling on the floor laughing, and out the front door.

"How on earth do you live with those four?"Ikki asked tiredly as they headed towards the beach.

Shun shrugged. "Just avoid them when I can, live with them when I can't."

Their feet automatically carried them to the beach like a magnet. The sun hung low in the sky, covered by a gray mist of clouds, a telltale sign of the storm that had passed through the previous night. The beach was littered with bits of wood, seaweed, and other odd scraps that had washed up with the waves.

"That storm was awful,"Shun muttered as he kicked a small piece of wood out of the way.

"I pity anyone who was caught up in it,"Ikki agreed. "even a saint would have trouble surviving that."

Shun nodded, then looked up at the sky. "Didn't the news report say that an old shipping barge went down near here?"

"Yes, only the captain survived,"Ikki said as he stared out at the ocean, which seemed more than ready to swallow them up.

"What the…"

Ikki looked back at his younger brother. The Andromeda saint was walking towards what appeared to be a large pile of seaweed and wood. Ikki walked over and knelt down next to it. Upon closer inspection he spotted what appeared to be a large patch of pink seaweed.

"Since when is seaweed pink?"Ikki asked. Shun detected a hint of laughter in his voice.

Shun pushed away some more of the seaweed, and something wrapped around his hand. Shun yelped and tried to jump back, but whatever held his hand was strong. Ikki calmly took Shun's arms and inspected the thin black cords wrapped around his hand.

"They're harp strings…."Ikki muttered. His hand followed the strings and eventually came into contact with something soft. Human skin.

The harp strings unwrapped themselves from around Shun's hand and retreated back into the mass of seaweed. Ikki and Shun looked at each other, then quickly began to move away the seaweed and wood.

"Where on earth are those two?"Saori asked tiredly.

"Can't we just eat without them?"Seiya whined as he poked at his steak, which had long since become cold.

Shiryu examined his own steak, which seemed to be attracting flies. "I hate to say it, but we're all hungry, and it could take Shun and Ikki hours to get back."

Hyoga, Seiya, and Kiki nodded quickly. Saori let out a sigh and opened her mouth to say "Fine." When the door in the front of the mansion banged open with such force that she quickly forgot what she was about to say.

"What the hell was that?"Seiya asked as he jumped to his feet and ran out of the large dining room.

Saori, Hyoga, Shiryu, and Kiki jumped up and followed him. They stopped just in time, almost running into Seiya. He was standing in the doorway of the large living room of the Kido mansion. Inside, they could see Ikki and Shun, both of whom were soaked to the point that their hair lay completely flat, talking. Ikki was holding what appeared to be a body in his arms, though all they could see was bright pink hair and a copper colored arm.

"What's going on?"Saori asked, pushing her way in front of Seiya.

Shun turned to look at her, obvious worry flaring in his gentle eyes. "We found this girl on the beach. She must have washed up during the storm last night."

Saori approached Ikki and examined the girl in his arms. She had long pink hair, which seemed to reach at least to her ankles, and copper colored skin. A few scars traced randomly around her body, and a black tattoo shaped like a harp stood out brightly against her skin.

"She's got a fever,"Ikki mused. "but nothing else. Not a scratch on her."

Saori touched the girl's forehead and a long black cord shot from her arm and wrapped around Saori's wrist. Saori tried to pull her hand back, but it only resulted in the harp cord cutting into her flesh.

"Wha…what is this?"Saori asked, panic rising in her voice.

"We don't know,"Shun explained. He put his hair next to the harp cord protruding from the unconscious girl's skin. It loosened its grip on Saori, then released her and returned to the girl's skin.

Saori rubbed her wrist. "Put her up in one of the spare bedrooms, and keep an eye on her. I don't like those harp cords."

Shun and Ikki nodded, then walked towards the stairs. Saori turned back to her other three saints.

"I don't like it,"Seiya muttered. "that harp cord was creepy."

Saori nodded. "There is no ill will towards the saints that I could feel, but she seems to harbor and extreme dislike of the gods, primarily Artemis and Athena."

"Then why would you let her stay?"Hyoga asked.

Saori smiled. "There is a good air to her, something trustworthy. I believe she may be linked to some of the saints now at Sanctuary."

"Are you saying she could help us?"Seiya asked.

"Perhaps,"Saori looked back up the stairs as Ikki and Shun vanished. "those harp cords are what interest me, though, and that tattoo. The god Apollo was associated with the lyre, a type of ancient harp, and she seemed to have great control over that harp string that attacked me."

_"So lately, I've been wonderin  
Who will be there to take my place  
When I'm gone, you'll need love  
To light the shadows on your face  
If a great wave should fall  
It would fall upon us all  
And between the sand and stone  
Could you make it on your own"_

_"She sings almost as well as Aiolos."Aiolia smiled._

_The boy next to him smiled, his dark purple hair falling in his face. "Yeah, too bad he can't see her now. He always said she'd be great."_

_"I won't be surprised if she lives up to him one day."Aiolia mused. "She's far stronger than most of our brothers. And having the eight of us to learn from has helped greatly."_

_"You know our father wouldn't permit it."_

_"Yes, but I also know Elektra and Kitsune don't follow rules as well as most of us do, Kage."_

_"Too true."  
  
"If I could, then I would  
I'll go wherever you will go  
Way up high or down low  
I'll go wherever you will go"  
  
_

_Aiolia looked back. Two identical children were sitting on a tree Brach, one was singing perfectly in tune with the radio in front of her. Both had spiky pink hair, light copper skin, and, if you had been able to look, red starburst eyes._

_"I look forward to seeing what happens."Kage mused next to him. "Elektra and Kitsune are so different, and their paths no doubt will be as well."_

_"I can only pray she does not completely follow in Aiolos's footsteps,"Ailoia muttered._

_"She won't."Kage said knowingly. "she's stronger than that. Gods willing, she will be there to see the return of Athena, and so will we."_

_  
"And maybe, I'll find out  
The way to make it back someday  
To watch you, to guide you  
Through the darkest of your days  
If a great wave should fall  
It would fall upon us all  
Well I hope there's someone out there  
Who can bring me back to you"_

Sere:Done, done, and done!!

Dice: *sweatdrop* that was slightly random

Sere:it'll make sense soon enough. All of Elektra's dreams will play a part later

Chibi:*runs in with Birdy and Ivory in tow* Mommy!! Can we play with the chibi saints?!

Sere:*sweatdrop* *grabs her faithful laptop and types something. The chibi saints appear around Chibi, Birdy, and Ivory* There you go, and no trashing the house!

All chibis:OKAYZIES!!! *run off to play in Elektra's garden*

Elektra:Sere, do you have a death wish?

Sere:No

Ikki:Then why did you just summon up all of our chibi forms?

Sere:They're your chibis, take care of 'em

Saints:EXCUSE ME?!


End file.
